The distress and Before CHRIST shall fail in her. 2 The floor and the winepress | † destruction: Egypt shall gather about 760. shall not feed them, and the new wine them up, Memphis shall bury them: † the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles. | Or, winefat. 3 They shall not dwell in the LORD's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria. 4 They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD. 5 What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the LORD? 6 For, lo, they are gone because of Meaning that they considered the good things, which they received, as a "reward" for the service which they paid to their false gods. Dr. Pocock. 2. The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, &c.] The Prophet here tells them, they might think they had obtained their "reward." For their crops were indeed abundant; nevertheless they would not be the better for the plenty of their land. Bp. Horsley. 3.-the Lord's land;] The land, which the Lord sware to their fathers to give them, Deut. xxx. 20; and which He did accordingly give them, still reserving the ownership of it to Himself. See Lev. xxv. 23. Dr. Pocock. Ephraim shall return to Egypt, &c.] This returning of theirs into Egypt seems to be the flight of several of them thither, to avoid the destruction brought by the Assyrians upon their nation, when the rest were either slain, or carried captives from "the Lord's land" into Assyria and other countries, where they were "wanderers among the nations," ver. 17. Dr. Pocock. —and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.] Their circumstances in captivity shall not permit them to observe the rules of the law relating to unclean meats, and they will be forced to eat of such meats as have been offered to idols. Compare Dan. i. 8; Ezek. iv. 13. W. Lowth. 4. They shall not offer wine offerings &c.] A more particular explanation of that threatening denounced, chap. iii. 4, that they should be "without a sacrifice :" they should have no opportunity in their captivity to offer meat offerings or drink offerings to God, as they did upon the high places, or in their idolatrous temples; see Amos iv. 4, 5: and sometimes, perhaps, in the temple at Jerusalem; see ver. 15. They themselves shall be in the condition of mourners for the dead, and by that means be unqualified to offer any thing to God; nor will their offerings be acceptable: see Deut. xxvi. 14. W. Lowth. the bread of mourners ;] See the note on Jer. xvi. 7. -for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the Lord.] Either they shall not offer in the house of the Lord oblations for making atonement or expiation for their souls or by "bread for their soul" may be understood such as is necessary for preserving and keeping them alive; and then the meaning is, their bread shall be for their eating, but shall not come into the house of the Lord. Dr. Pocock. Before CHRIST about 760. + Heb. spoil. Or, their silver shall be desired, the nellle, &c. 7 The days of visitation are come, * Heb. the days of recompence are come; the desire. Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, † the spiritual man is mad, for + Heb. man the multitude of thine iniquity, and of the spirit. the great hatred. 8 The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God. I Or, against. 9 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of "Gibeah: Judg. 19. therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins. 18. 5. What will ye do in the solemn day, &c.] Ye shall have no opportunity of observing any of your solemn feasts in your captivity: see chap. ii. 11. W. Lowth. 6. For, lo, they are gone &c.] They shall flee into Egypt, hoping there to find refuge and safety from destruction: but they shall die there; "Egypt shall gather them up," for burial, as the words appear to be explained in the following, " Memphis shall bury them." Memphis, or Moph in the Hebrew, was a chief city or metropolis of Egypt, called Noph in Isaiah, chap. xix. 13; Jer. ii. 16; Ezek. xxx. 13, &c. Some suppose it to be the place now called Cairo. For the sense here given to gather," see Jer. viii. 2; Ezek. xxix. 5. Dr. Pocock. The Arabs call Cairo Menoph at this day. Abp. Newcome. the pleasant places for their silver,] The closets or cabinets, where they were wont to hide their treasures and jewels. Bp. Hall. The general sense of this passage is very clear. It describes the extreme devastation of the country by the Assyrian conquest, under the image of weeds growing up in the dwellings, deserted by their owners, and stripped of their costly and elegant furniture of silver. Bp. Horsley. 7.- the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad,] The days are at hand which shall make the Israelites sensible, that not a word of God shall want its effect, and that His Prophets were true Prophets, but their false prophets, to whom the Israelites hearkened, were indeed "fools" and "madmen." And this should come to pass "for the multitude of their iniquity," whereby they shewed themselves to hate" God, and made themselves hateful to Him. Dr. Pocock. 8. The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: &c.] The Prophet, whom God sent to them, such as Hosea himself, or any other formerly sent, and by them rejected, was "with God;" a true Prophet of His, and faithful in the discharge of His commission. Dr. Pocock. The true Prophet, like a watchman sent by God, gave warning to Israel of their approaching calamities: see Jer. vi. 17; Ezek. iii. 17; xxxiii. 2; Micah vii. 4. But the words of the false prophet are like "a snare" laid on purpose to entrap men into mischief and destruction. See chap. v. 1. And his false prophecies he utters purely out of "hatred" to God and His worship, and to deter those that hearkened to him from attending upon God's service at the temple. W. Lowth. 9.—as in the days of Gibeah:] The men of Gibeah are described in the same characters as those of Sodom for their sins and idolatry. Before CHRIST CHAP. IX, X. 10 I found Israel like grapes in the about 760. wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first e Numb. 25. time: but they went to Baal-peor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved. 3. + Heb. that casteth the fruit. d Chap. 12. 11. 11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. 12 Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them! 13 Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer. 14 Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a † miscarrying womb and dry breasts. 15 All their wickedness is in are; compare Judges xix. 22, with Gen. xix. 4: to which they added the villainy of forcing the Levite's concubine, Judges xix. 25. W. Lowth. 10. I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; &c.] Israel was no less pleasing to Me at the first, than ripe grapes would be to a thirsty traveller in a dry wilderness: I esteemed your forefathers, those fruitful Patriarchs, as the most choice and firstripe figs; but their sinful progeny fell off and degenerated to idolatry, applying themselves to that shameful idol; and chose to themselves several abominable deities, according as they were affected to the parties that worshipped them. Bp. Hall. "The wilderness" is rightly connected with "grapes," and is not to be connected with "Israel." Bp. Horsley. as the firstripe] The early figs are very desirable, and much esteemed in those countries. See Jer. xxiv. 2; Isai. xxviii. 4. Dr. Pocock. unto that shame ;] See the note on Jer. iii. 24. 11. As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away &c.] Barrenness is threatened with peculiar propriety, as the judgment for the worship of the idol here mentioned. Bp. Horsley. 13. Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place:] The situation of Ephraim, and particularly of the royal city of Samaria, situate in that tribe, is as pleasant as that of Tyre: see Ezek. xxvii. 3. W. Lowth. 14. Give them, O Lord: what wilt thou give? give them &c.] Give them, O Lord: what shall I intreat Thee to give them? even that, which they would think to be a judgment, miscarrying wombs, and dry breasts; that they may never bring forth or nourish up children to idolatry or slaughter. Bp. Hall. 15. All their wickedness is in Gilgal:] These words may seem a reply from God to the Prophet's petition; shewing that His decreed judgments should not in any degree be taken off from them, by reason of their unworthiness and great provocations. Dr. Pocock. Israel reproved for impiety. Before CHRIST Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will about 760. drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters. 16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even † the beloved fruit of their Heb. the womb. 17 My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations. CHAP. X. Israel is reproved and threatened for their impiety and idolatry. TSRAEL is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly + images. desires. about 740. Or, a tine emptying the fruit which it giveth. + Heb. statues, or, standing images. heretofore I shewed them such tokens of My love and gracious presence, even there I have since hated them, or now hate them. Dr. Pocock. Gilgal was the place where the armies of Israel, upon their entering Canaan, first encamped; where Joshua set up the twelve stones, taken by God's command out of the midst of Jordan, in memorial of the miraculous passage through the river. There the first passover was kept, and the fruits of the promised land first enjoyed. There the captain of the host of Jehovah appeared to Joshua. There the rite of circumcision, which had been omitted during the forty years of the wandering of the people in the wilderness, was renewed. And, in the days of the prophet Samuel, Gilgal appears to have been an approved place of worship and burnt offering. But in latter times, it appears from Hosea and his contemporary Amos, that it became a place of great resort for idolatrous purposes. And these are the wickednesses in Gilgal, of which the Prophet here speaks. Bp. Horsley. 16.yet will I slay &c.] The scope of these words is to set forth the diminution of Israel, as to their glory, number, strength, and power, by a firm decree from God. This is according to the curse, anciently denounced against them in the law, that, if they should become disobedient, and walk contrary to Him, then He would make them "be left few in number," Lev. xxvi. 22; Deut. iv. 27; xxviii. 62. Dr. Pocock. 17. My God] As if He were only the God of the Prophet, who clave to Him, not of the people, who had by their disobedience departed from Him. Dr. Pocock. and they shall be wanderers among the nations.] And so they became, and so they continue to this day, "wandering among the nations,' so as scarce to be found out, having no settled place of their own, no where that they can be called a people, or are as such acknowledged. Dr. Pocock. See the notes on Deut. xxviii. 64, 65, 67. for there I hated them:] Rather, "therefore there I hated them;" He hated them there, because they Chap. X. ver. 1. Israel is an empty vine, &c.] Israel sinned there or "surely there I hated them." The is a vine indeed, but a fruitless one; or, if he bear word "there" is emphatical. In that very place, where | fruit, it is to himself, for the advancing of his own pro Israel is reproved Before CHRIST about 740, || Or, He hath divided their heart. + Heb. behead. I Or, Chemarim. Before CHRIST 2 | Their heart is divided; now | syria for a present to a king Jareb: shall they be found faulty: he shall Ephraim shall receive shame, and about 740. +break down their altars, he shall Israel shall be ashamed of his own spoil their images. 3 For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us? 4 They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field. 5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof 11 that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it. 6 It shall be also carried unto As fit and pleasure; as his wealth and abundance increaseth, so doth his idolatry; look how much he is pampered with his store, so much more doth he spend upon his goodly images. Bp. Hall. The fruit here spoken of is not the fruit of good works, but the fruit of national prosperity; increasing population, abundant crops, numerous flocks and herds, publick opulence, military strength. Bp. Horsley. 2. Their heart is divided;] Between God and their idols: pretending to worship God, but not cleaving in sincerity to Him, nor giving Him their whole heart: "halting between" Him and Baal, 1 Kings xviii. 21. Dr. Pocock. 3. For now they shall say, We have no king, &c.] It shall shortly come to pass, that the enemy prevailing against them and their king, as despairing men, rather than true penitents, they shall be constrained to say, "We have no king," or are as if we had none, none that can save us, he being taken and not able to defend himself; see ver. 7, and 2 Kings xvii. 4 : and deservedly is this happened unto us, "because we feared not the Lord;" we have forsaken Him, and made Him our enemy, and "what" good "then shall a king do to us?" Dr. Pocock. 4. They have spoken words,] Evil words; (Dr. Pocock:) empty words. Abp. Newcome. What follows may be understood as taxing them generally with "swearing falsely;" such as swearing by false gods; or binding themselves to something needless, impossible, or unlawful; or breaking the promises which they had ratified by oaths. Dr. Pocock. thus judgment springeth up &c.] In consequence of their carelessness about their covenants, as a punishment of their fraudulent dealings, the "judgment" of God falls upon them as severe and bitter as "hemlock." Dr. Pocock. counsel. 7 As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon † the water. a Chap. 5. 13. + Heb. the face of the 8 The high places also of Aven, water. the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come. up on their altars; and they shall bIsai. 2. 19. say to the mountains, Cover us; and Rev. 6. 16. to the hills, Fall on us. b 9 O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them. 10 It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall Luke 23. 30. & 9. 6. Beth-aven, as having become the temple of an idol) was in its size, and the riches of the temple, the principal image. The word therefore may be rendered "the great calf." Bp. Horsley. 6. It shall be also carried unto Assyria &c.] It was the custom of the Eastern people, as also of the Romans, to carry away the gods of conquered countries. Abp. Newcome. 7. As for Samaria, her king is cut off &c.] The king spoken of is with reason generally understood to have been Hoshea, the son of Elah, under whom and with whom Samaria was destroyed; see 2 Kings xvii. Dr. Pocock. 8. The high places also of Aven,] That is, of Bethaven, ver. 5, and chap. iv. 15; or Beth-el; which being by reason of the great wickedness there committed, so unworthy of its first name, "the house of God," is in contempt first called "the house of iniquity," and now "iniquity" itself in the abstract: this being the signification of "Aven." Dr. Pocock. and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; &c.] The inhabitants shall be so terrified with the sword of the enemy that they shall wish themselves under ground, and speak to the hills and mountains to fall upon them, and shelter them from that fury. Bp. Hall. This sublime description of fear and distress our Lord had in view, Luke xxiii. 30; which may be a reference and not a quotation. Abp. Newcome. 9. O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah :] See chap. ix. 9. Some render it "more than in the days of Gibeah." W. Lowth. The sin of Israel now exceeds the sins of those sinful times, when "every man did what was right in his own eyes," and it seemned right in the eyes of the whole tribe of Benjamin to protect the outrage of the Sodomites of Gibeah. See Judges xix. Bp. Horsley. 5. The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear &c.] Samaria ! there they stood:] "There," that is, upon that here signifies the kingdom of Israel, of which Samaria occasion; namely the quarrel with the tribe of Benjawas the capital city. See chap. viii. 5, 6. The inhabit- min, on account of the outrage of the men of Gibeah. ants of that kingdom shall be seized with fear and con- "They stood," that is, the Israelites set themselves in fusion, when the calf of Beth-el (see Jer. iv. 15.) shall array for the attack. Bp. Horsley. be carried away as a present to Shalmaneser, ver. 6: when he made the king and kingdom tributary, 2 Kings xvii. 3. W. Lowth. because of the calves of Beth-aven:] There is little doubt but the same is here meant as "the calf of Samaria," chap. viii. 5, 6. Dr. Pocock. The plural number is used, because the calf of Beth-el (here called the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.] Notwithstanding some losses, small in comparison with that of the tribe of Benjamin, which was all but cut off, God gave the Israelites success in that righteous war. Bp. Horsley. 10. It is in my desire that I should chastise them ;] Though God had hitherto spared them, and they thereon 12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. 13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten d 34. & 19. 13. 15 So shall Beth-el do unto you because of your great wickedness: +Heb. the in a morning shall the king of Israel erit of your utterly be cut off. CHAP. XI. 1 The ingratitude of Israel unto God for his evil. HEN Israel was a child, then about 740. the fruit of lies: because thou didst WI loved him, and called my a Matth. 2. trust in thy way, in the multitude of grew insolent and secure, yet He now declares His de- Pocock. son out of Egypt. 15. and to seek to recover His favour; so far, as that He may rain upon you the showers of His grace and mercy, whereby ye may appear righteous in His sight. Bp. Hall. 13. Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniwhen they shall bind themselves in their two fur-quity;] In the former verse he shewed what God comrows.] The Greek translation gives a plainer and easier manded them to do: here, in the like figurative expressense, according to the reading in the margin, "When sions, he shews what they had done. Dr. Pocock. But I shall bind them," as it were, hand and foot, to deliver alas, contrary to My commandments, ye have ploughed them into the hands of the Assyrians, who "shall be up deep furrows of wickedness, and have reaped a large gathered against them,' ," "for their two transgressions;" crop of iniquity. Bp. Hall. As your thoughts and denamely, the calves of Dan and Beth-el. Dr. Wells, signs have been evil, such has been the fruit and reward W. Lowth. of your labours: compare chap. viii. 7. And ". ye have eaten the fruit of lies:" ye have received the just reward of your idolatries. See the note on chap. vii. 3. W. Lowth. 11. And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, &c.] The sense would run easier if we read it, Ephraim is as an heifer that is teachable. So I passed over her fair neck: I caused Ephraim to ride; Judah did plow, and Jacob did break the clods. God here sets forth the gentle and easy methods He used to bring both Israel and Judah to a sense of their duty; treating them with gentleness, as a husbandman does young bullocks or horses, stroking them, and encouraging them, till they are accustomed to the yoke: then He gave them His laws, and prescribed them rules for the several duties and offices of life, and expected they should bring forth fruit answerable to the several helps and advantages which He had given them. W. Lowth. -I will make Ephraim to ride;] Rather, I rode upon Ephraim, after the manner of husbandmen, who are used to ride upon their bullocks. Grotius. 12. Sow to yourselves in righteousness,] He proceeds in the same figure of language, expressing in terms belonging to common husbandry such duties as were required of them in their spiritual husbandry, or service of God. The people, who were before compared to an heifer, are here spoken to, as the husbandman, the sower, and reaper. We may understand, as introductory to this verse, some such words as, And I said, Sow &c. Dr. Pocock. did -reap in mercy;] This is a promise, that if they sow in righteousness," they should "reap in mercy" that is, they should experience that measure of mercy, whereby God above their desert rewards those who sincerely endeavour to do His commandments. Dr. Pocock. The whole verse may be thus paraphrased: Give yourselves to all holy and conscientious endeavours: sow to yourselves in holiness and righteousness, and reap mercy and lovingkindness from the Lord; break up the fallow grounds of your hearts by a true and serious repentance; for it is time for you to turn to the Lord 14.- -as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel] The allusion is to a military exploit, not elsewhere recorded or mentioned in Scripture, but doubtless well known in Hosea's time in which some powerful conqueror prosecuted his victory with extreme cruelty, and spared neither sex nor age. The Israelites are threatened with a like calamity. Dr. Pocock, Bp. Horsley. 15. So shall Beth-el do unto you] God sent the evils : the Assyrian, His instrument, inflicted them: but Bethel is said to do to the people what they suffered, because their idolatry and great wickedness there moved God to bring the destroyer against them. Dr. Pocock. in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off] Suddenly shall Hoshea be deprived of his kingdom, and an end put to the whole state and government of Israel. See Ps. xlvi. 5; xc. 14; cxliii. 8; Jer. vii. 13; xxxv. 15. W. Lowth. Chap. XI. ver. 1. When Israel was a child, then I loved him,] When the people was in the state of childhood; that is, in the patriarchal times, and during their continuance under the Egyptian bondage. W. Lowth. - and called my son out of Egypt.] Israel is called God's "son," and His "firstborn," Exod. iv. 22, 23; and therein was an eminent figure of the Messias, in whom all God's promises are fulfilled. This prophecy is applied by St. Matthew, chap. ii. 15, to our Lord's return out of Egypt, after His flight thither in His infancy: and the literal sense of the words does more properly belong to Him, than to Israel; which is observable in many other prophecies which can but improperly be applied to those, of whom they were spoken; and, taking them in their true sense, are only fulfilled in Christ. See particularly Ps. xxii. 16, 18. W. Lowth. Israel's ingratitude. Before CHRIST about 740. ↑ Heb. lift up. about 728. they became HOSEA. 2 As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. 3 I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them. 4 I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that † take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them. 5 He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return. 6 And the sword shall abide on his tributaries to cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels. Salmanasser. 2. As they called them, &c.] The more earnestly the Prophets called on them to cleave steadfastly to the true God, ver. 7, the more they were bent to depart from Him to the worship of idols. W. Lowth. 3. I taught Ephraim also to go,] See Deut. i. 31; viii. 2. W. Lowth. but they knew not that I healed them.] They considered not that the health and safety they enjoyed was bestowed by Me. W. Lowth. God's mercy toward them. Before CHRIST 7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called about 740. them to the most High, † none at all would exalt him. 8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as b Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. 9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city. 10 They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west. + Heb. together they exalted not. b Gen. 19. 24. Amos 4. 11. 6. — his branches,] That is, his people. Dr. Wells. 8. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? &c.] God's mercies are here pathetically described as contending with His justice, to shew that He does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men, Lam. iii. 33. W. Lowth. When nothing will do, with what difficulty and reluctance does God deliver up His people into the hands of their enemies? "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim ?" &c. What a conflict is here! What tenderness and yearning of His bowels towards them! He cannot find in His heart to give them up, till He is forced to it by the last necessity. Abp. Tillotson. - mine heart is turned within me, &c.] These words would seem to import a change of mind and purpose in any but God, whose counsels man's words cannot duly express, nor his understanding fully comprehend. Dr. Pocock. 9. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger,] I do not give way to a blind rage, as men often do: but as God, am unchangeable, and will still fulfil My gracious promises made to Abraham and his people, of being their God. Compare Mal. iii. 6. W. Lowth. -I will not return to destroy] When I come a second time, it will not be to destroy. An indirect promise of coming again, not for judgment, but for mercy. Bp. Horsley. 4. I drew them with cords of a man,] That is, such cords as are proper to draw men with as they are men, endued with reason to discern between good and evil, and with freedom of will to choose the one before the other; and with such a temper and agreement of both, that what we apprehend to be good, that we freely choose, and refuse what we think to be evil. Accordingly God sets before us good and evil, and both in such a light that we may clearly discern the difference between them, and choose the good before the evil. Thus He draws us with cords, suitable to man's constitution in explanation He adds, "with bands of love," or with expressions of His love and kindness towards us. In this way one man commonly draws another how much more can Almighty God do it, who hath the hearts of all men in His hand, and the greatest favours to bestow which man can possibly desire? This is the meaning of the Apostle, "that the goodness of God leadeth us to repentance," Rom. ii. 4. It doth not force or drag us, but it leads us to repentance, and so to Christ. Bp. Beveridge. Not violently forcing them into His service, but striving 10. They shall walk after the Lord:] They shall folto win them over with gentle invitations, and great low God's call, and comply with His commands, when favours and benefits, such as usually most powerfully He shall convert them by an efficacious call of His prowork on reasonable men, and bind them to their bene-vidence, or powerful preaching of the Gospel. W. Lowth. These words may be understood as a prophecy of the conversion of the remainder of Israel to Christ, and the settling of them in a spiritual kingdom: which prophecy has been already in great measure made good, by the calling in of many of them at Christ's first coming, and the preaching of the Gospel; and is still fulfilling, and to be fulfilled, till His second coming, by the conversion of as many of them as the Lord shall call in the interval between His two comings. Near his second coming it is a received opinion, that there shall be a signal conversion of them. Dr. Pocock. factor. Dr. Pocock. take off the yoke] Or, "lift up," as in the margin. The expression of "lifting up" the yoke refers, as is well observed by Abp. Newcome, and before him by Bishop Lowth on Isaiah, chap. i. 3, to the custom of raising the yoke forward, to cool the neck of the labouring beast. Bp. Horsley. 5. He shall not return into the land of Egypt,] They were desirous of making their escape thither, and many families perhaps effected it: see chap. ix. 6. But here it is threatened, that the nation in a body should not be permitted so to escape, because they refused to return to God. Bp. Horsley. - and I will not enter into the city.] A second time, in order to make an utter destruction. W. Lowth, Dr. Wells. he shall roar like a lion:] "He," that is, Christ, "the Lion of the tribe of Juda," Rev. v. 5. |